Integration of solvent deasphalting with resin hydroprocessing

Abstract

The invention is directed to a process that combines the solvent deasphalting with resin hydrotreatment so as to reduce the costs associated with performing each of the steps separately. The integrated process of the invention permits higher product yields coupled with lower energy and transportation costs.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A process for deasphalting a solvent comprising:
 introducing a hydrocarbon oil feedstock to a reactor; 
 introducing a solvent to the hydrocarbon oil feedstock; 
 separating, with the reactor, the hydrocarbon oil feedstock into an asphaltene-containing fraction and a fraction comprising deasphalted-oil (DAO) and resin; 
 separating the fraction comprising DAO and resin in a resin recovery section into a DAO feedstock and resin feedstock; 
 feeding the asphaltene-containing fraction to a pitch stripper; 
 integrating the resin feedstock with a hydroprocessing process, wherein integrating the resin feedstock with the hydroprocessing process comprises:
 separating, in a resin flash drum, the resin feedstock into a solvent fraction and a flashed resin fraction; 
 feeding the flashed resin fraction to a hydrotreating reactor to create a resin output; 
 feeding the resin output from the hydrotreating reactor to a first heat exchanger to exchange heat between the resin output and the flashed resin fraction and feeding the resin output from the first heat exchanger to a second heat exchanger to exchange heat between the resin output and the fraction comprising DAO and resin; 
 feeding the resin output from the second heat exchanger to a separator; 
 separating, with the separator, hydrogen from resin output from the second heat exchanger; 
 feeding the resin output from the separator to a stripper; 
 separating, with the stripper, the resin output from the separator into a light ends fraction and a bottoms fraction; and 
 separating, with a hydrotreated resin extractor, the bottoms fraction into a hydrotreated resin overhead stream and a hydrotreated resin bottoms stream, feeding the hydrotreated resin overhead stream to a DAO recovery section, and feeding the hydrotreated resin bottoms stream to the pitch stripper. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The process of  claim 1 , wherein the hydroprocessing process is carried out at hydrogen partial pressures ranging from about 800 to about 2500 psig. 
     
     
       3. The process of  claim 1 , wherein the hydroprocessing process is carried out at temperatures ranging from about 650 to about 930° F. 
     
     
       4. The process of  claim 1 , wherein the hydroprocessing process is carried out with a catalyst. 
     
     
       5. The process of  claim 4 , wherein the catalyst is a metal catalyst. 
     
     
       6. The process of  claim 5 , wherein the metal catalyst comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of nickel, molybdenum and cobalt. 
     
     
       7. The process of  claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a light paraffinic solvent comprises at least one of methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, isopentane, neopentane, hexane, isohexane, heptane, their mono-olefinic counterparts and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       8. A method for integrating a solvent deasphalting process and a resin hydroprocessing process comprising:
 feeding a solvent to a heavy hydrocarbon stream comprising asphaltenes, resin, and oil, and feeding the solvent and the heavy hydrocarbon stream to a reactor at a first inlet disposed above a bottoms section of the reactor; 
 feeding a solvent to the bottoms section of the reactor at a second inlet; 
 removing, with the reactor, the asphaltenes from the heavy hydrocarbon stream so as to produce a substantially solvent-free asphaltene stream and a substantially asphaltene-free solvent solution comprising the solvent, the resin, and the oil; 
 heating the solvent solution so as to precipitate the resin; 
 separating the resin from the solvent solution, producing a resin product and a mixture comprising the oil and the solvent; 
 applying heat to the mixture so as to vaporize a fraction of the solvent; 
 removing the vaporized solvent fraction from the mixture leaving a resin-free deasphalted oil (DAO) product; 
 integrating the resin product with a hydroprocessing process, wherein integrating the resin product with the hydroprocessing process comprises:
 separating, in a resin flash drum, the resin product into a solvent fraction and a flashed resin fraction; 
 feeding the flashed resin fraction to a hydrotreating reactor to create a resin output; 
 feeding the resin output from the hydrotreating reactor to a first heat exchanger to exchange heat between the resin output and the flashed resin fraction and feeding the resin output from the first heat exchanger to a second heat exchanger to exchange heat between the resin output and the fraction comprising DAO and resin; 
 feeding the resin output from the second heat exchanger to a separator; 
 separating, with the separator, hydrogen from resin output from the second heat exchanger; 
 
 feeding the resin output from the separator to a stripper;
 separating, with a stripper, the resin output from the separator into a light ends fraction and a bottoms fraction; and 
 separating, with a hydrotreated resin extractor, the bottoms fraction into a DAO fraction and a pitch fraction, feeding the DAO fraction to a DAO recovery section and feeding the pitch fraction to a pitch stripper. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  wherein at least a fraction of the solvent is removed with the resin product. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9  wherein the resin product comprises about 50% resin and about 50% solvent. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8  wherein the resin-free oil DAO product is further processed in a product cracking unit selected from the group consisting of a hydrotreater unit, a hydrocracker unit and a fluidized catalytic cracking unit. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 8  wherein the resin-free (DAO) product comprises about 50% (DAO) and about 50% solvent. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8  wherein the solvent solution comprises about 10% (DAO) and resin, and about 90% solvent. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 8  wherein the heated solvent is condensed, combined with the solvent, and added to the heavy hydrocarbon stream comprising asphaltenes, resin, and oil. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 8  wherein the further separation step comprises generating a resin overhead stream and a resin bottoms stream. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the solvent comprises a light paraffinic solvent. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the light paraffinic solvent comprises at least one of methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, isopentane, neopentane, hexane, isohexane, heptane, their mono-olefinic counterparts and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising feeding the separated hydrogen to the hydrotreating reactor. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising feeding the separated hydrogen to the hydrotreating reactor.